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expatally's review against another edition
2.0
He has such a way with words and I love the dialog between the characters, but this series seems to be two book too much, in my opinion.
hexijosh's review against another edition
3.0
I won't go into detail on this one, but Maguire's writing is as dense as ever, sometimes to the point of incoherence, but he has still managed to craft a sweeping tale of the land of Oz and all those we've come to love (or hate, if you've read the 3rd book) along with some new companions.
I found A Lion Among Men tedious and irritating and vowed never to even look in its direction again. Because of that, I had low expectations for Out of Oz. Fortunately Maguire managed to get back on track and finally tell the story we WANTED to read. In fact, you could skip the 3rd book completely and get away with no more confusion than you would otherwise. In fact, I suggest it, as A Lion Among Men just isn't worth anyone's time.
As always, [a:Gregory Maguire|7025|Gregory Maguire|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1319068553p2/7025.jpg] leaves a lot open to interpretation and nothing ends the way we want it. However, in a world of happy endings it's refreshing to find a fairy tale with real honesty. i.e. Good doesn't always trump evil and lovers rarely find their way back to each other's arms.
I can say that I'm happy the series is finally over, as it should have been some time ago (looking at you, Lion). And should I ever want to see these characters again, I'm much happier reading their old adventures than awaiting new ones.
I found A Lion Among Men tedious and irritating and vowed never to even look in its direction again. Because of that, I had low expectations for Out of Oz. Fortunately Maguire managed to get back on track and finally tell the story we WANTED to read. In fact, you could skip the 3rd book completely and get away with no more confusion than you would otherwise. In fact, I suggest it, as A Lion Among Men just isn't worth anyone's time.
As always, [a:Gregory Maguire|7025|Gregory Maguire|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1319068553p2/7025.jpg] leaves a lot open to interpretation and nothing ends the way we want it. However, in a world of happy endings it's refreshing to find a fairy tale with real honesty. i.e. Good doesn't always trump evil and lovers rarely find their way back to each other's arms.
I can say that I'm happy the series is finally over, as it should have been some time ago (looking at you, Lion). And should I ever want to see these characters again, I'm much happier reading their old adventures than awaiting new ones.
surlamer7803's review against another edition
4.0
as good as all the others in the series, better perhaps than A Lion Among Men. Interesting and unexpected twists and turns as always, with an ending nit necessarily satisfying but still thought provoking - leaving your imagination to wander where pages cease.
hollyragreads's review against another edition
3.0
There's nothing worse than an open ended ending.
I will say that I did actually lol at Dorothy a few times, and her constant inability to stop singing
I will say that I did actually lol at Dorothy a few times, and her constant inability to stop singing
avocadomilquetoast's review against another edition
4.0
I have a pet peeve for the way a certain word is over(and often incorrectly)used. But considering the Wicked Years series takes places over the course of three generations and across all corners of the vast land of Oz, I would definitely say it is epic indeed.
Overall that's what I found so satisfying. With L. Frank Baum's series, each of the books seemed like unconnected slices of Oz life - and really only seen through Dorothy's (or ... Dorothy-replacement characters) eyes. With Gregory Maguire's, you get the whole pie, as it were, and three more pies on top of that.
How did Out of Oz do in finishing the series? There's not a complete sense of closure, really, but maybe perhaps that's the point? I like imagining that, even if someone leaves in a balloon or gets melted by water, life still goes on for everyone else in Oz.
Overall that's what I found so satisfying. With L. Frank Baum's series, each of the books seemed like unconnected slices of Oz life - and really only seen through Dorothy's (or ... Dorothy-replacement characters) eyes. With Gregory Maguire's, you get the whole pie, as it were, and three more pies on top of that.
How did Out of Oz do in finishing the series? There's not a complete sense of closure, really, but maybe perhaps that's the point? I like imagining that, even if someone leaves in a balloon or gets melted by water, life still goes on for everyone else in Oz.
pixie_d's review against another edition
5.0
Outwardly, this series of books has a fantasy setting and characters, but the author says so many wise things about the interior lives of human beings and how they relate to each other. I envy his writing talent while simultaneously being grateful he was able to articulate so many deeply felt and spot-on insights.
michael__'s review against another edition
5.0
Wicked is one of my favorite books of all time. Not only is Gregory Maguire's writing one of the great joys of modern literature, but the expertise with which he created Oz within the boundaries put out by L. Frank Baum before him was enchanting. However, when he decided to write Son of a Witch a decade later and then A Lion Among Men, some of the magic was lost. Maguire's writing was still top-notch and kept me enthralled throughout reading those novels, but I couldn't help noticing it seemed as though he wasn't entirely sure where to take his story after killing off the Wicked Witch of the West. The groundwork of where he wanted to take his story was there, but they, in my opinion, didn't really come to fruition due to - possibly - the short length of those two novels.
Out of Oz is a monster. Clocking in at 563 pages, it's even longer than Wicked and tackles concepts much more grand. Oz is in complete disarray, with Munchkinland at war with the Emerald City, Glinda is under house arrest, Dorothy has returned and is being charged with the murders of both Wicked Witches, etc. To say the least, the land of Oz is not the one to which you were introduced in the 1939 film.
To be frank, the first two hundred (or even three hundred?) pages of this novel are long and tedious. Even painfully so. Without giving too much away, it involves a lot of walking through landscapes and visiting different places of Oz that have little importance except for the fact that certain characters are hiding out from the persecution of the army. If you've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I think you have a sense of what I'm talking about. However, as tedious as they may be, these scenes seem to offer a final farewell to places throughout the Oz landscape that have been visited in previous novels in the series, so they were for the most part forgivable. It's just the getting through it that's hard.
Once you pass those sections, however, it becomes much easier to appreciate the work as a whole. Maguire finally shows his vast talent at winding different, convoluted plotlines around each other, with twists that are both completely unexpected but make perfect sense. The characters introduced throughout this series that never really had a chance to be developed properly (Brr, Glinda, Candle, Nor, Trism, and of course, Rain and Liir) are all illustrated in this novel with great skill and care, making each character interesting.
Needless to say, Out of Oz is the best Maguire novel since Wicked. In equal parts heartbreaking, funny, melancholic, and rewarding, it gave the series a conclusion that is fully deserved and left just enough unanswered questions to keep the reader guessing at to what truly happened within its pages. Elphaba would be proud.
Out of Oz is a monster. Clocking in at 563 pages, it's even longer than Wicked and tackles concepts much more grand. Oz is in complete disarray, with Munchkinland at war with the Emerald City, Glinda is under house arrest, Dorothy has returned and is being charged with the murders of both Wicked Witches, etc. To say the least, the land of Oz is not the one to which you were introduced in the 1939 film.
To be frank, the first two hundred (or even three hundred?) pages of this novel are long and tedious. Even painfully so. Without giving too much away, it involves a lot of walking through landscapes and visiting different places of Oz that have little importance except for the fact that certain characters are hiding out from the persecution of the army. If you've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I think you have a sense of what I'm talking about. However, as tedious as they may be, these scenes seem to offer a final farewell to places throughout the Oz landscape that have been visited in previous novels in the series, so they were for the most part forgivable. It's just the getting through it that's hard.
Once you pass those sections, however, it becomes much easier to appreciate the work as a whole. Maguire finally shows his vast talent at winding different, convoluted plotlines around each other, with twists that are both completely unexpected but make perfect sense. The characters introduced throughout this series that never really had a chance to be developed properly (Brr, Glinda, Candle, Nor, Trism, and of course, Rain and Liir) are all illustrated in this novel with great skill and care, making each character interesting.
Needless to say, Out of Oz is the best Maguire novel since Wicked. In equal parts heartbreaking, funny, melancholic, and rewarding, it gave the series a conclusion that is fully deserved and left just enough unanswered questions to keep the reader guessing at to what truly happened within its pages. Elphaba would be proud.
nicolednk's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite of the four! I almost went for a 5...it's almost there...not many books will keep me up half the night to finish anymore. It helps to have read at least the first 3 of Baum's Oz books beforehand, and have a working knowledge of the musical to get all the nuances of this last novel.
klptenn's review against another edition
3.0
A little disappointing.. and it took so long to finish.
jlo615's review against another edition
2.0
If you enjoy lyric quotes from "Wicked" and "The Wizard of "Oz", then you may enjoy the book. If you enjoy a series ending with just as many unanswered plot elements as the first book, then you may enjoy the book. I felt compelled to finish the series, and I may eventually be glad I did. My immediate reaction is frustration, not happiness.